Need ideas and inspiration for selling homemade food!

Hi Everyone. I joined this forum years ago when I was really young and still dreaming!

Now, I'm 22 and have decided to try pursue my love of food and cooking. I don't want to become a chef-behind the scenes in a restaurant. I have applied to take over a school tuck shop in South Africa, make it as healthy as possible and also run a small deli.

Whilst I am waiting to hear back from them, I have decided to try raise funds for capital and test the waters. I have booked a stand for a big market in 2 weeks time and have now suddenly got cold feet. I have so many ideas but can't seem to whittle them down and am getting cold feet.

I really want to offer something a little different such as salad kits, ready made dishes(like gourmet mac and cheese, roast vegetables etc) as well as cake pops, filled cupcakes(lemon meringue has caught my eye) and bags of soups and sauces. I also have an awesome recipe for gluten free chocolate cake and muffins(made with beans!).I love the thought of foodie gifts such as beer bread kit, cookie mix jar etc.

The problem is I have little experience in this and not much money to buy stock and packaging with and don't want to be left with excess stock.

Re: Need ideas and inspiration for selling homemade food!

What about a selection of really tasty 'flapjacks' they are fairly cheap to make and can have things added to enhance them . They can be packed in a simple cellophane bag or could be served straight into a paper bag.As long as they are reasonably priced they should sell well.

Jars of cookie mix , layered up so they look amazing and finished with a ribbon or a raffia bow .The problem with these is the cost of buying the jar.There are lads of ' jar recipes on the Internet.

Re: Need ideas and inspiration for selling homemade food!

Hi Noo noo,What an exciting venture. Just wanted to share the story of two friends who began selling food at markets, one sold cakes and the other sold bread.The bread person was so much more successful because the cost of her ingredients was so much less.So my hint is to do the maths with the cost of ingredients as well as the simplicity of the recipe and all the Health and Safety issues.

My daughter is thinking of a market stall and one thing she is considering is home made muesli bars. They can be made and packaged in advance.

Re: Need ideas and inspiration for selling homemade food!

My suggestion would be to find recipes that have few ingredients and those ingredients are used in multiple items. This would keep cost down as you can buy the core ingredients in bulk which will be cheaper and spend less on "special' items just for one product.

Re: Need ideas and inspiration for selling homemade food!

Thank you so much.

My friend owns a farm and sells free range ducks, chickens and quails. She has many quail eggs to sell( a novelty only found in fine dining in S.A) and already has the packaging for them. Not sure about the logistics of taking frozen birds. This is my list of ideas.Would appreciate input as to what would catch your eye?

Love the flapjack idea. I did it at a cake sale with crumpets when I was in primary school and it worked so well. Not sure if these are the same thing?! And its great idea to generate passing traffic to see my other products!

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